I love Trader Joe's. I love the food, the company, the money they save me.

Love Trader Joe's too?

Feel free to send me links to your TJ's review posts or recipes that you have tried and loved - write to info@babygetgreen.com. I'd be happy to link to other Trader Joe's fans.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Whole Foods Value Tour

Last week Saturday a friend and I were able to attend Whole Foods' "Value Tour". It was on the Whole Foods calendar and I signed up. Space is limited and the tour is free, so make sure to check in advance and get signed up if it is something you are interested in. I highly recommend it!

Some of the great things about this tour (aka reasons you should go)

You really see what the company is all about. You can find their core values here and during the tour you definitely see how these are lived out day to day.

It was really fun and interesting. We heard a lot of great information, learned about local farmers and retailers, and we saw a fish get cut :).

You get to try food out. It was awesome to get samples of a few great products. Our "tour guide" opened a few things along the way (cereal bars and truffles) and passed them around. There were also samples going on throughout the store that we tried along the way.

You get a free gift. When we left we got a reusable bag along with a few different 365 products. I got Caesar dressing, whole wheat pasta and pasta sauce! I'm always so happy to get free food :).

Some new things I learned from the tour

We learned that even though the packaging of something can be the same store to store, there are different ratings for the product inside. Strawberries, for example, at Whole Foods are the best of the best even though the packaging may be the same at a store nearby. These are why some of their prices on produce are higher.

In the meat department at our store there is a chef who is now in charge. He takes meat cutting, storage and selling very seriously. It was interesting to hear how they do things differently and that it's important to them.

They have many organic products that are higher quality. There goal is to have the best quality for the best price.

They have quality meat. Our tour guide was telling us that once a meat guy from Europe was at the store and said that it is so hard to compete with meat farmers in the states because the meat prices are so low here. In Europe they have higher standards (like about hormone usage and feeding of the animals) and therefore he has to sell his meat at a higher price to still make a profit. It is illegal in Europe to sell meat like it is sold here. (Scary!!!)

You can by a half loaf of bread from the bakery. They then cut the price in 1/2 for you when you buy it. They put the other half by the other bread, but at a reduced price. I thought this was a great idea!

Our guide told us that you are able to try things out before you buy. If there is something you are interested in trying, you should be able to tell a Whole Foods' worker and they will open it and give you a sample.

Just like Trader Joe's, you can return anything you don't like. This is not just if it's gone bad, but really if you don't like it you can return it. Pretty amazing that these 2 companies are so sure in their products!

I'm sure there are tidbits of information I'm forgetting in this moment, but it was a fun time. You should definitely grab a friend and sign up together. It's a great opportunity to see more of what Whole Foods is all about.